1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to boating equipment and more particularly to equipment for attaching paddles to a conoe for storage and which even more importantly facilitates the portaging of the canoe.
2. Description of the Prior Art
When handling a conoe or traveling by canoe, it is frequently necessary for the user to carry the canoe over land. Particularly, it is often necessary to carry the canoe over the land from one body of water to the next, an activity called portaging. Commonly, and historically, the canoe is inverted, hoisted onto the shoulders of the person portaging the canoe and bodily carried over the trail. The canoe is usually so held that the center thwart, a lateral brace located midway between the ends of the boat, rests on the back of the shoulders and neck. In this position the canoe is substantially balanced and tipped up slightly at the front, allowing the carrier to see where he is going.
Several significant problems are encountered in the course of portaging a canoe. The first is the need to efficiently and comfortably transfer the weight of the canoe to the shoulders of the carrier. A second problem is the need to provide a means for carrying the paddles. A third is the need for some convenient handhold accessible from beneath the inverted canoe to be used by the carrier for steadying his load.
Various arrangements for addressing these problems have been developed. For example, Jackson, U.S. Pat. No. 3,734,367, shows a pack frame adapted to engage the center thwart of the canoe, together with other bracing members extending forward to a second thwart. The pack frame arrangement provides for a more efficient transfer of weight to the carrier of the canoe than can be accomplished simply by resting the middle thwart on the back of the neck and shoulders. Main, U.S. Pat. No. 4,016,615, shows a resilient cushion which attaches to the center thwart of the canoe and which is contoured to fit the back of the neck of the person carrying the canoe. Spring loaded telescopic rods are provided which span the distance between the center thwart and a forward thwart or seat to provide convenient hand holds. Neither patent includes means for attaching the paddles to the canoe. Common practice is to tie the paddles to the seats, thwarts, or other accessible parts of the interior of the canoe.
The devices shown in the art for facilitating the portaging of canoes are cumbersome and require the use of rigid and inconveniently large structures which must then be stored, occupying a relatively large space within the canoe, when the journey by water is resumed. Furthermore, no provision is made thereby for securing the canoe paddles during the portage or during boat storage or transport of the canoe by a car or other vehicle.